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Scott Rozelle, PhD

  • Faculty Co-director of the Stanford Center on China's Economy and Institutions
  • Helen F. Farnsworth Endowed Professorship
  • Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
  • Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research
  • Faculty affiliate at the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law

Encina Hall East, E404
Stanford, CA 94305-6055

Biography

Scott Rozelle is the Helen F. Farnsworth Senior Fellow and the co-director of Stanford Center on China's Economy and Institutions in the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research at Stanford University. He received his BS from the University of California, Berkeley, and his MS and PhD from Cornell University. Previously, Rozelle was a professor at the University of California, Davis and an assistant professor in Stanford’s Food Research Institute and department of economics. He currently is a member of several organizations, including the American Economics Association, the International Association for Agricultural Economists, and the Association for Asian Studies. Rozelle also serves on the editorial boards of Economic Development and Cultural Change, Agricultural Economics, the Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, and the China Economic Review.

His research focuses almost exclusively on China and is concerned with: agricultural policy, including the supply, demand, and trade in agricultural projects; the emergence and evolution of markets and other economic institutions in the transition process and their implications for equity and efficiency; and the economics of poverty and inequality, with an emphasis on rural education, health and nutrition.

Rozelle's papers have been published in top academic journals, including Science, Nature, American Economic Review, and the Journal of Economic Literature. He is fluent in Chinese and has established a research program in which he has close working ties with several Chinese collaborators and policymakers. For the past 20 years, Rozelle has been the chair of the International Advisory Board of the Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy; a co-director of the University of California's Agricultural Issues Center; and a member of Stanford's Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center and the Center on Food Security and the Environment.

In recognition of his outstanding achievements, Rozelle has received numerous honors and awards, including the Friendship Award in 2008, the highest award given to a non-Chinese by the Premier; and the National Science and Technology Collaboration Award in 2009 for scientific achievement in collaborative research.

publications

Working Papers
January 2024

Common Prosperity in Rural China Begins at 0-3 Years Old

Author(s)
cover link Common Prosperity in Rural China Begins at 0-3 Years Old
Working Papers
November 2021

Parental Investment, School Choice, and the Persistent Benefits of Intervention in Early Childhood

Author(s)
cover link Parental Investment, School Choice, and the Persistent Benefits of Intervention in Early Childhood
Working Papers
October 2020

Off the Epicenter: COVID-19 Quarantine Controls and Employment, Education, and Health Impacts in Rural Communities

Author(s)
cover link Off the Epicenter: COVID-19 Quarantine Controls and Employment, Education, and Health Impacts in Rural Communities

Current research

In The News

Handheld Chinese flag in front of a government building in Beijing, China.
Commentary

China is Purging Celebrities and Tech Billionaires. But the Problem is Bigger than 'Sissy Men'

The Los Angeles Times writes about China's new "common prosperity" campaign to narrow the gap between rich and poor. However Scott Rozelle doesn't think "any of these policies that they’re doing are addressing the real underlying issues.” Rozelle says they need to invest in rural education so that workers can move into higher-skill jobs.
cover link China is Purging Celebrities and Tech Billionaires. But the Problem is Bigger than 'Sissy Men'